Shelving and/or display unit

ABSTRACT

A shelving and/or display unit having a pair of spaced upright members for supporting shelves to form a display unit or the like, with said uprights each having spaced front and rear legs with shelf supporting members extending between said legs of each upright and with each shelf support member having an inwardly extending intermediate offset portion which is adapted to be engaged by a downwardly extending flange extending laterally on each side of the shelf and provided with hooking members adapted to engage with said inwardly extending intermediate offset portion of said shelf support member to detachably lock and support said shelf on said shelf support members.

United States Patent [1 1 Marschak [4 1 May 20, 1975 1 SHELVING AND/OR DISPLAY UNIT [76] Inventor: Howard .1. Marschak, 865 W. North Ave., Chicago, 111. 60622 22 Filed: Mar. 18,1974

21 App1.No.:451,891

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,903,312 9/1959 Lawless 108/159 3,172,376 3/1965 Havlis 21 l/148 3,485,381 12/1969 Grubb et a1 211/148 Primary Examiner-Roy D. Frazier Assistant ExaminerR0bert A. Hafer Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Max R. Kraus [57] ABSTRACT A shelving and/or display unit having a pair of spaced upright members for supporting shelves to form a display unit or the like, with said uprights each having spaced front and rear legs with. shelf supporting members extending between said legs of each upright and with each shelf support member having an inwardly extending intermediate offset portion which is adapted to be engaged by a downwardly extending flange extending laterally on each side: of the shelf and provided with hooking members adapted to engage with said inwardly extending intermediate offset portion of said shelf support member to detachably lock and support said shelf on said shelf support members.

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHAYZOISYS 3,884 358 FIG. 1 64 l8 I o a aili o M! SHELVING AND/OR DISPLAY UNIT BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of this invention is to provide a shelving support to form a display unit formed of uprights having shelf support members and shelves provided with means for interlocking the shelves with the uprights so that the parts may be shipped disassembled and may be readily set up, and wherein each upright has spaced front and rear legs and is provided with shelf supporting members each having inwardly offset portions, and wherein the shelf has downwardly extending flange means extending laterally of the shelf and provided with hooking means adapted to detachably engage the shelf support means so as to interlock with said shelf support means. The interlocking means of said shelf with respect to the shelf support means is such that the shelf may be cantilevered with respect to said shelf support means.

Another object of this invention is to provide a display unit formed of various components which may be shipped in a knockdown condition and may be readily assembled at the point of use and may, if desired, be readily disassembled for storage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the manner of assembling the display unit and showing one shelf attached thereto.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1 with the shelf secured to the shelf support member.

FIG. 3 is a view showing the manner of securing a shelf to the shelf support member.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing a display unit with a modified shelf support and a modified back plate; and

FIG. 5 is a top plan view partly in section showing the back plate hooked to the top shelf support members.

FIGS. 1 3

The structure illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be first described.

The display unit includes a pair of spaced uprights formed of metal or the like, each generally designated at and each upright being of generally inverted U- shaped configuration and comprising a front leg 12, a rear leg 14, connected and joined by a top crossmember 18 integrally formed with said legs, which gives the upright a generally inverted U-shaped configuration. The front legs incline or slope outwardly away from the rear legs from the top toward the bottom to provide a greater width between the legs at the bottom than at the top to provide better support. Each of said uprights is provided with a plurality of spaced shelf support members generally indicated at 20, depending upon the number of shelves desired to be supported. The shelf support members are secured to and extend between the front and rear legs of the uprights. Since all of said shelf support members are identical only one said member will be described in detail.

The shelf support member 20 is formed preferably of wire and is shaped to provide a front portion 22, a rear portion 24, with an intermediate inwardly extending U-shaped offset portion 26, all integrally formed. The U-shaped offset portion comprises front and rear ends 28 and 30 connected by a-longitudinal portion 31. The front end 28 of the U-shaped portion is parallel with the rear end 30 of said offset portion and they extend at substantially right angles to the front and rear portions 22 and 24. The front and rear ends 22 and 24 are in alinement and the intermediate U-shaped portion 26 is offset inwardly with respect to same. The shelf support members 20 are brazed or welded or otherwise permanently secured as at 32 and 3 4 to the inwardly facing surfaces of the spaced legs 12 and 14 of the uprights so as to become a permanent part of said uprights.

As seen in FIG. 1, it will be noted that some of the shelf supports 20 extend at an inclined angle while the uppermost shelf support 20 extends substantially horizontal. Thus in this arrangement all of the shelves except the top shelf are positioned and supported in a downwardly inclined or sloping angle and the top shelf is horizontally positioned on a horizontal plane. It will of course be understood that the angular disposition of the shelf supports, whether angular or horizontal, can be varied depending upon the particular requirement.

All of the shelves are similar and therefore only one will be described in detail. The shelf generally indicated at 36 is formed of a rectangular-shaped metal frame member generally indicated at 38 having spaced front and rear walls 40 and 42 connected by spaced side walls 44. Each side wall 44 of the shelf comprises a vertical portion 45 with the top edge 46 turned outwardly and downwardly to form a downwardly extending spaced flange 48, as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. The downwardly extending flange 48 adjacent the rear thereof is provided with a right-angled cutout or slot 50 which forms a rear hooking member generally indicated at 52, which includes the lower rearwardly extending flange portion 54. The rear hooking member 52 including the rearwardly extending flange portion 54 terminates forwardly of the rear wall 42 of the shelf frame. The top of the vertical side wall 45 adjacent the hooking member 52 terminates at 55, which is below the top of the remainder of said vertical side wall. Spaced forwardly of the rear [hooking member 52 and approximating the position of the front end 28 of the shelf support is another recess or slot 56 formed in the flange 48 which forms the front hooking member generally indicated at 58. The front wall 40 of the shelf frame is at an inclined angle, as best seen in FIG. 3.

The frame of the shelf is so constructed that the vertical side walls 45 of the sides 44 of the frame have inwardly turned flanges 45 at the bottom thereof. A cross-member 60 is secured between the front and rear walls of the frame and welded thereto. A hard board shelf liner 62 is positioned in said frame to form the complete shelf. While the shelf is described with the use of a hard board shelf liner, it will be understood that the shelf may be formed as an integral unit, or the shelf surface may be formed of parallel wires thereby eliminating the need of a separate shelf liner like 62. Irrespectively, however, the sides of the shelf should be formed in the manner described, with the downwardly extending flange 48 and the rear and front hooking members 52 and 58.

As best shown in FIG. 1, the two vertical uprights 10 are spacedly secured together by means of a sway brace generally indicated at 64, provided with spaced openings which receive fastening screws or the like to secure the sway brace to the rear legs 14 of each of the uprights. A secondary brace indicated at 65 is secured by fastening screws to brace 64 and to the rear legs for providing additional support. Said braces spacedly support the uprights so that the shelves may be mounted in the manner now to be described.

The shelf 36 is positioned on the cross shelf support members 20, as best seen in FIG. 3, by positioning the downwardly extending flange over the cross support member 20 and positioning the rear hooking member 52 under the inwardly extending rear end 30, and in this position the shelf is cantilevered. It is then lowered so that the front hooking member 58 is in engagement with the front offset end 28. The portion of the flange 48 between the rear and front hooking members 52 and 58 overhangs the longitudinal connecting portion 31 of the shelf support 20 and the portion of the flange 48 extending forwardly thereof is adapted to overhang the front portion 22 of the shelf support 20. The front and rear ends 28 and 30 of the shelf support member 20 are in engagement with the two hooking members 52 and 58 on the flange 48 and serve to prevent forward and rearward movement of the shelf when it is in fully interlocked position with the shelf support members 20. As shown, the shelf is adapted to extend forwardly of the front legs of the uprights.

With this construction the components, namely, the uprights, the sway braces and the shelves may be shipped disassembled and may be readily assembled at the point of use by merely joining the parts together, as is clearly understood. Likewise, the parts may be readily disassembled for storage to occupy a minimum of storage space.

FIGS. 4 and FIGS. 4 and 5 show a modified construction in which the display unit is somewhat different, however, it utilizes the basic concept heretofore described. In this modification the inverted U-shaped uprights indicated at 70 are provided with shelf support members 72 which are brazed to the front and rear legs of the uprights and which are shaped similar to the shelf support members previously described, but are additionally provided at the rear with an inwardly extending end portion 74 substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the shelf support, with the inwardly extending end portion turned inwardly at right angles thereto to form a forwardly extending hook 76, which hook 76 engages the spaced openings 78 in a back plate 80. One or more of such back plates may be secured to extend between the rear of said uprights. By providing these hook ends 76 at the rear of the shelf supports the back plate or plates 80 forming the rear wall of the display may be attached thereto so as to provide the means for supporting the uprights 70 and also to provide the display with a back or rear wall.

What is claimed is:

l. A display or shelving unit comprising a pair of spaced uprights, each of said uprights having spaced front and rear legs, a shelf support member extending between said front and rear legs of each said upright, each said shelf support member having an offset portion which is of generally U-shaped configuration and is intermediate said front and rear legs, a shelf having a downwardly extending flange on each of its opposite sides which extends laterally of the shelf, said flange having a pair of spaced hooking members which interlock with the front and rear ends of said offset portion of said shelf support member to detachably lock said shelf to said shelf support member to prevent the forward and rearward movement of said shelf with respect to said shelf support members.

2. A structure as set forth in claim 1 in which a rear cross member is secured to the rear legs of the upright to brace the uprights.

3. A display or shelving unit comprising a pair of spaced uprights, each of said uprights having spaced front and rear legs, a shelf support member extending between said front and rear legs of each said upright, said shelf support member having an offset portion, a shelf having spaced side walls and a flange on each of its opposite sides which extends laterally outwardly of the side walls of the shelf, said flange having a cutout adjacent the rear thereof which forms a rear hooking member for engaging the offset portion of said shelf support member to detachably hook said shelf to said shelf support member and to prevent the forward and rearward movement of said shelf with respect to said shelf support members.

4. A structure as set forth in claim 3 in which the offset portion of the shelf support member is offset inwardly with the offset portion being spaced from but adjacent to the rear leg of the upright.

5. A structure as set forth in claim 4 in which the flange also has a front hooking member engaging said offset portion.

6. A structure as set forth in claim 3 in which the flange has a second cutout forwardly of the first mentioned cutout which forms a front hooking member for detachably hooking the shelf to said shelf support member.

7. A structure as set forth in claim 3 in which the shelf is formed of a frame in which the opposite sides of the frame each have a flange and in which the frame supports a shelf liner.

8. A display or shelving unit comprising a pair of spaced uprights, each of said uprights having spaced front and rear legs, a shelf support member extending between said front and rear legs of each said upright, with certain of said shelf support members having an inwardly extending end portion which terminates in a forwardly extending hook, a rear cross-member extending between said uprights and having an opening adjacent each of its opposite ends for engaging said forwardly extending hook for supporting said uprights and forming a rear wall for said display unit, each said shelf support member having an offset portion, a shelf having a downwardly extending flange on each of its opposite sides which extends laterally of the shelf, said flange having a rear hooking member and another hooking member forwardly thereof and spaced from said rear hooking member, with said hooking members engaging the offset portion of said shelf support member to detachably secure said shelf to said shelf support member and to prevent the forward and rearward movement of said shelf with respect to said shelf support members. 

1. A display or shelving unit comprising a pair of spaced uprights, each of said uprights having spaced front and rear legs, a shelf support member extending between said front and rear legs of each said upright, each said shelf support member having an offset portion which is of generally U-shaped configuration and is intermediate said front and rear legs, a shelf having a downwardly extending flange on each of its opposite sides which extends laterally of the shelf, said flange having a pair of spaced hooking members which interlock with the front and rear ends of said offset portion of said shelf support member to detachably lock said shelf to said shelf support member to prevent the forward and rearward movement of said shelf with respect to said shelf support members.
 2. A structure as set forth in claim 1 in which a rear cross member is secured to the rear legs of the upright to brace the uprights.
 3. A display or shelving unit comprising a pair of spaced uprights, each of said uprights having spaced front and rear legs, a shelf support member extending between said front and rear legs of each said upright, said shelf support member having an offset portion, a shelf having spaced side walls and a flange on each of its opposite sides which extends laterally outwardly of the side walls of the shelf, said flange having a cutout adjacent the rear thereof which forms a rear hooking member for engaging the offset portion of said shelf supPort member to detachably hook said shelf to said shelf support member and to prevent the forward and rearward movement of said shelf with respect to said shelf support members.
 4. A structure as set forth in claim 3 in which the offset portion of the shelf support member is offset inwardly with the offset portion being spaced from but adjacent to the rear leg of the upright.
 5. A structure as set forth in claim 4 in which the flange also has a front hooking member engaging said offset portion.
 6. A structure as set forth in claim 3 in which the flange has a second cutout forwardly of the first mentioned cutout which forms a front hooking member for detachably hooking the shelf to said shelf support member.
 7. A structure as set forth in claim 3 in which the shelf is formed of a frame in which the opposite sides of the frame each have a flange and in which the frame supports a shelf liner.
 8. A display or shelving unit comprising a pair of spaced uprights, each of said uprights having spaced front and rear legs, a shelf support member extending between said front and rear legs of each said upright, with certain of said shelf support members having an inwardly extending end portion which terminates in a forwardly extending hook, a rear cross-member extending between said uprights and having an opening adjacent each of its opposite ends for engaging said forwardly extending hook for supporting said uprights and forming a rear wall for said display unit, each said shelf support member having an offset portion, a shelf having a downwardly extending flange on each of its opposite sides which extends laterally of the shelf, said flange having a rear hooking member and another hooking member forwardly thereof and spaced from said rear hooking member, with said hooking members engaging the offset portion of said shelf support member to detachably secure said shelf to said shelf support member and to prevent the forward and rearward movement of said shelf with respect to said shelf support members. 